Lendingkart Widens Losses By 32% To INR 28.4 Cr In FY21

Ahmedabad-headquartered non-banking finance company (NBFC) and lending tech platform Lendingkart has widened its losses by 32% in FY21. The startup posted a loss of INR 28.4 Cr in FY21, as compared to INR 21.6 Cr in FY20.

The fintech startup saw its income uptick by 6% in FY21. Lendingkart in its consolidated financial statement reported a total income of INR 499 Cr in FY21. During FY20, a period between April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, the startup had posted a total income of INR 470 Cr. The revenue from operations stood at INR 475 Cr in FY21, as compared to INR 446 Cr in FY20.

In FY21, the startup incurred total expenses of INR 518 Cr, an 8% rise from INR 479 Cr it clocked in FY20. The major reason behind its rise in expense was earmarked for ‘other expenses’. In FY21, the startup saw its other expenses rise to INR 246 Cr as compared to INR 208 Cr in FY20.

Founded in 2014 by ex-banker Harshvardhan Lunia and former ISRO scientist Mukul Sachan, Lendingkart is an instant working capital finance platform that provides SMEs with easy access to credit and working capital. Sachan had stepped down from his role as Chief operating officer of the firm in 2019.

The startup claims to have disbursed over 100K loans and have supported more than 89K small businesses. Lendingkart on its website claims that it has operations in more than 1,300 cities and towns across India. The startup offers business loans, working capital loan, MSME loan, and business loan for women.

Earlier this year, the startup bagged $15 Mn from FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial bank. The deal marked an extension of Lendingkart’s three-year working relationship with the bank receiving funds through NCDs (non-convertible debentures) and increases its cumulative exposure to $19 Mn with this transaction.

The startup enjoys the support of investors such as Bertelsmann India, Sistema Asia Capital, India Quotient among others and have to date,  raised $242.5 Mn in 11 funding rounds from 14 investors.

Digital lending is one of the fastest-growing segments in India’s booming fintech space. As per a Statista report, the country’s digital lending market grew from $9 Bn in 2012 to $150 Bn in 2020, and is estimated to touch $350 Bn by 2023.

As per Inc42 Plus report, of the $2.7 Bn investment received by fintech sector in Q3 of 2021, around 35% were attributed to lending tech. Lending tech space received funding worth $547 Mn in Q3 of 2021.